Serving Others Can Transform Us

Serving others can transform us.

There is a Bible story about a rich young man who asked Jesus how to attain salvation. Jesus told him to follow the law and to be a good person. Then, Jesus told the man to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Jesus. The man did NOT do it, and most Christians do NOT do it. I wondered if I could do it. I wrote about the rich young man here.

The story haunted me, and it changed my life. Over ten years ago, we quit our big jobs and sold our big house and spent our lives in service.

At the time, I did NOT believe in the God of the Bible. I did NOT believe that Jesus was God, that he died for our sins or that he rose from the dead. Also, I did NOT believe in any heaven or hell. Still, I followed Jesus because he spoke to how we should live in the here and now. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism and many other traditions embrace the Golden Rule, too.

Spiritual reading opened my mind, and spiritual practice opened my heart. Then, serving others transformed who I am and how I live. Service is NOT just a Christian idea; it is a universal idea. Show me your guru or mullah or rabbi or roshi, and I will show you an Arabic or Hebrew or Pali or Sanskrit text about dying to your self. As Rick Warren says, “It’s not about you.”

Of course, we should have a sense of self, and we should NOT believe that we are depraved or unworthy. And, once we develop a sense of self, we can transcend it and realize our connectedness.

What Can We Learn When We Serve a Wider Community?

If you live in the same neighborhood, pick your kids up at the same schools, shop in the same stores, and worship in the same churches for many years, then you constantly see the same people. They probably act like you, look like you, talk like you and think like you.

If you serve a wider community, then you see a variety of people who are all ages, races, and sexual orientations. They may not act like you, look like you, talk like you or think like you. In addition, the more people you meet, the more you realize that most people are kind. Like us, they want peace and prosperity for themselves and their families.

When I lived among the one percent, I thought that there were makers and takers, that the makers (us) worked and paid taxes, while the takers (them) loafed and took benefits. Today, I know that bad outcomes are often attributable to bad circumstances, rather than bad choices. Also, I know that good outcomes are often attributable to good luck, rather than hard work.

Before I blogged at Patheos, I blogged at my own website, and I wrote about my life of service here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here.

When I worked, I managed $100 million and $1 billion financings. When I retired, I drove a van, helped poor people with their taxes, played with sick children, and taught school in Africa. Somehow, I learned more about the human condition in the ten years that I spent volunteering than in the 30 years that I spent working.

“There Are No Others.”

The Eastern religions, the mystics and the scientists confirm—through subjective experience and objective evidence—that everyone is related, and everything is connected. When we realize this, would we ban Muslims, build walls, marginalize people, separate families or take away peoples’ healthcare? Would we treat our brothers or our daughters or our friends that way?

A disciple asked Ramana Maharshi, a Hindu sage, “How are we to treat others?” He replied, “There are no others.”

This is NOT woo-woo stuff. Often, I recommend The Tao of Physics, a book where a physicist describes the parallels between Eastern mysticism and modern physics. Also, I frequently recommend “My Stroke of Insight,” a popular TED Talk where a neuroscientist describes a transcendent experience in clinical terms. Connectedness is a physical reality, not a pipe dream.

Serving others transformed who I am and how I live. Do you realize that everyone is related, and everything is connected? How is your life transformed by this realization?

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